There have been numerous attempts to provide a solar collector system for the purpose of heating the water in swimmings pools. The U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,599,626 and 3,991,742 disclose heat transfer systems which are mountable on the top of buildings for the purpose of circulating the water of a swimming pool therethrough. These structures are permanently mounted and constitute somewhat complicated installations.
The portable heat exchange assemblies disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,868,945 and 4,014,314 are also usable at the edge of a pool for heating the water therein. These particular structures however disclose very specially designed heating panels which are fixed in a particular disposition with respect to the surface on which it is supported. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,945 shows a panel unit mounted in conjunction with a fixed frame member. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,314 defines a continuous single conduit that is not disposed in any enclosure. The disadvantages associated with these prior art structures include the inability to follow the rays of the sun and to be protected from the elements that will adversely affect the heat retaining characteristics of the collector panel.
The U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,299,881, 3,985,117 and 4,089,326 show various ways in which a continuous tubular conduit is disposed within an enclosure. However, in each instance, further construction is required to operate the panel structure automatically or to provide a complex structure configuration that has no relationship to a support frame assembly.
The U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,108,154 and 4,185,615 disclose solar collector units which have automatic mechanisms for tilting the direction of the panel to track the solar radiation during daylight hours. These particular panels are very complicated and expensive to use and thereby require significant maintainence which is undesirable for the persons owning a swimming pool and attempting to maintain the temperature of the swimming pool in areas where the outside ambient temperature would normally preclude the use of a swimming pool.